Willow
by BrittanaisLyfe
Summary: Every great couple has its beginning middle and end. This is just how their story went.
1. Chapter 1

_I want you for always... days, years, eternities. -Franz Schubert_

The playground was full of kids. It seemed like every second grade class in the Lima Heights Elementary school out was there. Screaming and laughter filled the air as children swang on the swing sets, chased one another in a game of tag or just hung around on the monkey bars.

Teachers stood and sat on benchs all while chatting it up and very rarely staring out to the kids to make sure no one got hurt. So it was easy for the small brunette to devise her plan. The kids never paid attention to anything and the teachers only pretended to watch them. She could sneak away and nobody would ever notice.

She crawled from under the jungle gym, and ran. She knew where she was going. She'd gone there every day before. It wasn't far fromt the playground just right outside of it actually. There was a tree she found at the beginning of the year. It was different than any other tree she'd ever seen before. It was bigger than the others. It's leaves were different, they grew to touch the ground and surrounded the tree trunk.

This was her tree. She pushed the leaves to the side and entered into her sacred place. It was shady here, it was quiet. She liked quiet. She rested her back against the base of the tree and slid down to take a seat on the grass. Folding her legs, she swiped her bangs behind her ear and reached into the pocket of her overalls.

Her daddy always gave her a lollipop to take to school. He said that it was for emergencies only. If ever there was a time that she was feeling sad during the school day, for whatever reason, then to eat the lollipop, because candy always made everyone feel better. But she'd just brought everyone that he given to her and stored them inside the little hole that had formed at the bottom of the tree.

She always felt sad at school, none of other kids ever talked to her. She didn't have friends like everyone else. No one didn't even notice when she went missing, like now. But she would come to her tree every time she felt sad, she didn't need lollipops.

There was a light breeze that blew by and swayed the leaves bringing her tree to life. The leaves and vines rustled and sunlights seeped inside her peaceful circle. This was a magical moment. She loved when this happened. It felt like she was in her own little world and nothing could ever hurt her here. Everything was peaceful, everything was beautiful.

She let a smile grace her tiny lips as she looked up at her tree. She just wanted it to be like this forever. Just her in her quiet place with the wind and the sun, nothing else, no one else. She let herself completely relax and in result she fell into a light slumber.

"Rachel... Rachel..." The brunette knew something was wrong when she heard a timid voice whispering her name. "Rachel, you waited to long." Rachel furrowed her eyebrows and blinked away the sleepiness. "You waited too long." The voice said again.

The brunette girl rubbed her eyes trying to find the source of the voice, but she was simply met with nothing. She wasn't sure how long she'd been sleeping, but she knew that she'd overslept when she didn't hear all the kids laughing and screaming like they were earlier.

No one had told the teacher that she was missing. The teacher didn't even notice she wasn't there. She could have stayed there if she really wanted to, but the buses would be there to get them soon. She needed to go home. So she bolted upright and ran as fast as she could to the school house. In doing so, she completely missed the little blonde girl standing just outside of her tree. The one that always noticed when she left. The one that cared enough to follow her every time she left the playground and be her look out to make sure no one would bother her and to be sure she was back with her class before they returned into the building.

But Rachel never noticed her. Just like no one ever noticed Rachel. The blonde walked slowly back to the school with her hands clasped behind her back. She just wanted the girl to notice her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Two weeks later. That's how long Quinn waited before she decided that she just simply could not take it any longer. She was tired of chasing after the girl that could never be caught, and she didn't even know why she was doing it. Why was she helping Rachel Berry? Nobody even knows who she is. So why should she?

She was angry, so why did she feel like she wanted to cry? She fought back tears as she balled her little fists up and stomped slowly to the stupid tree with it's long leaves. Rachel was in there, she was always in there.

"Rachel Berry, you come out here this instant." She wanted to sound angry, and that was always what her mom and dad said when they were angry with her.

Inside her safe haven Rachel nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of someone else actually adressing her, and in such a tone. She didn't know whether to freeze or to run. Whoever it was could have surely come inside if they wanted to, and then this wouldn't be her safe place any more. It would be tainted by the outside world if whoever was out there came in. So she made her split decision to go outside.

She timidly parted the leaves and quickly slid out. Careful to make sure the other girl didn't get to see the iniside. She might have fallen in love with it and tried to call it her place.

"Um... hey?" Rachel said awkwardly. She didn't know what to say to girl. No one ever talked to her. She didn't even know someone else had known her name.

The blonde was red in the face, she looked funny. Her eyes were big and watery, but her hair was pretty. It was long and blonde and she had a pretty braid in it. "Hey." She said angrily huffing and folding her arms.

"Um..." Rachel felt her voice shake because she didn't know what else to say. She was afraid. Why was this girl here? Who was she anyway? "What's your name?"

The blonde wiped her eyes and folded her arms back to their position. "Lucy... put people call me Quinn."

"Why?" The brunette eyed her curiously.

"Because, Quinn is cooler than Lucy."

Rachel was still studying the girl in front of her. She looked upset... she sounded upset. "Wait here." Rachel held her hand up and turned around disappearing behind the leaves. Quinn rolled her eyes out of annoyance. She felt the urge to cry again for fear of Rachel not coming back out.

But she was wrong, the brunette had returned just as quickly as she disappeared with both of her hands behind her back. "My daddy said that candy always makes everyone happy." She pulled the a red lollipop from behind her and handed it to the blonde. "Here."

Quinn looked to the candy and then back to Rachel. She wanted to cry again, but this time it wasn't out of anger. It was a little different then that... or a lot different, but at that age she wouldn't have known. She only took the candy. "Thanks."

Rachel rocked back and forth on her feet as she watched the blonde rip the paper off and stick the candy in her mouth. "Better?" Quinn only nodded. They stood there, just the two of them. A familiar breeze passed by and Rachel could hear the leaves swaying behind her. With a smile displayed across her face she grabbed the blonde's hand and pulled her inside. "Come look at this."

She hurried to the trunk of the tree, never letting go of the other girl's hand and sat down. "What are we doing?" Quinn asked shifting the lollipop to the other side of her mouth.

"Shh... Just, listen and feel." Rachel closed her eyes and let the wind sweep across her face. Her brown hair looked like silk as it blew every which way. Quinn couldn't help but to stare at her in complete awe. She'd never met someone so fascinating. She stared at the girl for a little longer and then closed her eyes, just like Rachel.

It felt like the wind was going on forever. "If you don't focus..." Rachel whispered. "It feels like you're flying. High up in the sky, with the clouds and the birds."

"How will we get down?" Quinn whispered.

"Like this." Rachel squeezed Quinn's hand to emphasize what she was talking about. "We'll fly really high together, and we'll come back down together... It'll be like our anchor."

Quinn silently nodded her head as if Rachel could even see her. "Where are we going?"

"Anywhere you can think of."

And they did just that, for three weeks straight. Everyday at recess when all the other kids where playing and the teachers were pretending to watch over them. Two little girls would sneak away, hand in hand, and go anywhere they wanted to.

"So where are we off to today?" Rachel asked with a smile on her face. She'd sat down and was waiting for the blonde to do the same, but something was about Quinn was off today. She'd gotten to know her well enough to know when something wasn't right. She was pacing and twiddling her thumbs. "What's wrong?" Rachel asked with concern lacing her voice.

The blonde didn't say anything she just looked to the brunette with with anxious eyes causing Rachel to come to her feet. "Do you want a lollipop?"

"No, Rachel, I don't want the stupid candy." Quinn bit back. The brunette let out a gasp and held her hand over her chest. How could Quinn say something like that? Not in the place of peace.

"D-did I do something wrong?"

The blonde didn't answer, she merely dropped to the ground, indian style, and burried her face into her palms. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that the girl was now crying. Rachel panicked and dropped to her knees beside her. She rubbed small circles on her friend's back. "I'm sorry forever for whatever I did. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Just tell me how to make it better, and I'll fix it I promise." Rachel pleaded to the blonde, but it only seemed to make her cry harder.

Rachel knew it. She knew she would break Quinn one day. There was a reason she didn't have friends, and this was why. She'd messed up and hurt her only friend and she didn't even know what she did.

"I'll sit by you forever until the leaves fall off of this tree, until the sky is old and gray, until the sun refuses to shine anymore telling you how sorry I am..." Rachel said softly, and that seem to do it.

The blonde shook her head and wiped her eyes as she looked at the brunette. The emotions that this child was feeling were emotions inexplicable to her. She didn't know what she was feeling, but it just felt like too much. "Rachel..." Was all she could mutter out before she leaned forward and pressed her lips to the brunette.

They sat there in an awkward moment with their faces just pressed together. It wasn't what Quinn had meant to do, or at least she didn't think to do it. Her body just kind of did it on its own. But it worked, it had been what she'd wanted all along. Everything that she was feeling before seemed to have come to a boiling point and sizzled over into that one moment. That was what she needed.

When she pulled back she was met with surprised brown eyes. "W-what was that for?" Rachel asked with a shakey voice.

The blonde shrugged and looked away. "I have to marry you." It was simple, and that's what she had to do. She just knew it. It was very uncomplicated, it's just the way that things had to work out.

"But why?"

Quinn shrugged her shoulders and tucked her hair behind her ear. She didn't know why, she just knew it had to be done one day. "My mom told me once that there are some things we just don't question, because it's supposed to be like that. You know?" Rachel shook her head, not understanding at all. But the blonde was determined to make her understand. "Like the birds, we don't ask why they fly. Or the wind, we don't ask why it blows, or this tree... we never asked why it was here. Why? Because that's the way things are supposed to be Rachel. They're just like that." The blonde shrugged. "They just are, just like you and me."

Rachel looked at Quinn and Quinn looked at Rachel. The brunette was still unsure if she knew what that meant,a nd if Quinn was being honest she wasn't 100% sure herself, but it was enough for both of them.

Rachel had never thought about growing up and getting married, mostly because she never had anybody to get marry to. But she took a moment to think about what it would be like to be an adult and married to Quinn. She didn't fully understand what that meant, and neither did the blonde. She just knew it meant that they had to live together and share a room... she could deal with that. She could marry Quinn if it meant they would always be together. "Okay." Rachel said quietly.

"Okay, what?"

"We can't get married now. We're to little. I'd probably be grounded for life if I got married to you. But one day, I'll let you marry."

Quinn smiled a dazzling smile and lurched forward engulfing the brunette in a hug. "Okay, no take backs. You said it. You said it yourself that you'd let me marry you, and I plan on doing it."

"You promise?"

"Only if you promise me again all that stuff you promised before?" Quinn asked timidly as she pulled away from the hug.

"What stuff?"

"About the leaves falling off..."

"Oh!" Rachel said regaining her memory. "Okay, I promise that I will sit by you forever and ever, until the leaves fall off of this tree, until the sky is old and gray, and until the sun refuses to shine." Quinn was sure she'd always remember those words even after all that stuff happens. She'd remember, and she'd think of Rachel when it did.

"Okay, then I promise I will marry you, and we'll sit together under this tree without leaves looking up at a gray sky without a shining sun... and it'll be the best thing I'll ever do in my entire life."

**I was thinking about making this a multichapter fic, but I wouldn't mind leaving it as a one-shot. Let me know if I should continue? And the tree in the story is a willow tree.**


	2. Chapter 2

Middle school. Rachel felt indifferent about the place. Sure it was only her second year, and she had, despite herself, had a few good memories during her time there thus far. But there were a lot of things she loathed about it. Like how, all of a sudden, the boys and girls seemed to be interested in each other. No one had the _cooties _anymore. Well, what happened to them? A disease like that does not just magically vanish. She loathed how people went from actively ignoring her existence to actively going out of their way to shine a negative light on her. She'd much rather prefer to be the invisible girl that no one ever knew. But the one thing she absolutely loathed the most was how middle school began to change and shape her very best friend, Lucy Quinn Fabray.

Middle school was supposed to be a beast that they'd defeat together, or at least that's how the blonde put it. She'd been trying to sooth a nervous Rachel during the summer. She made promises to be by her side through all the years. Middle school would be fun, because they'd do it together. But what the blonde didn't realize was that middle school was not elementary school. The kids here were more caught up in self images. They cared about what they looked like, and what others looked like. People here were popular, and unpopular. They made fun of the geeks, dorks, nerds and anybody who wasn't deemed pretty, or cool enough, and disowned anyone that associated themselves with them.

As one would guess Quinn was amongst the popular group while Rachel fell a lot lower on the totem pole. The brunette would get called names. She was embarrassed in front of the whole student on multiple occasions, and Quinn just could not be seen with her, not in public at least. Not where others could see them.

Rachel sat at a table in the back corner of the school library with her books spread out in front of her. She would periodically reach her hand into her lunch box and throw a grape in her mouth while she scribbled down a few notes. She'd found the library to be her new sanctuary. She was too far away to run to her tree, and this was the only place the _cool _kids wouldn't come to bother her.

She hummed her favorite tune in her head forgetting about the world around her. She liked getting lost in her studies. She was undoubtedly number one in her class. As Rachel hummed and bobbed her head she completely missed the figure that was peering at her from behind a bookshelf not far away from her.

It wasn't until the figure's clumsiness caused a book to fall that young girl snapped her attention away from her studies. She looked at the fallen book and tried to spy what had caused it. But she didn't see anyone or anything. She shrugged her shoulders and went back to scribbling down more notes.

With her head burried in her book there was no way she could have seen the figure's long arm reach from behind the bookshelf to slide the object back to him. Or at least that's what the mystery person thought. The brunette squinted her eyes in suspicion and slowly turned her head in the direction of where the book was. There was a pale hand searching blindly for the fallen object. "Who are you?" Rachel asked, not really caring about the volume of her voice. She was all the way in the back corner no one could hear her.

The hand had snapped back behind the bookshelf upon acknowledgement. Rachel would have left it alone, but she was curious. "You don't have to be scared... It's just me. I'm Rachel. I'm... nobody." That's how everyone else described her, so she thought it would only be fitting to introduce herself as such.

"Don't say that." Came a voice that Rachel was sure sounded oddly familiar.

"But it's true." She argued softly as she studied the empty space where the hand had disappeared. "Please come out and sit with me." She tried.

"I-I don't think that's a good idea."

She dropped her shoulders and stared back down to her open book. Of course it wasn't a good idea, who would want to be seen with a loser like her anyway? "Yea, you're right... I should get back to studying."

She let out a sigh and picked up her pencil again. Only this time she couldn't concentrate. She wanted to know who was behind the bookshelf even if they didn't want to be seen with her. So she got up slowly making sure to be extra quiet and tip toed to where she'd seen the person's hand.

If there was an outsider looking in, they probably would've thought the young girl had just seen a ghost. Rachel's eyes popped wide open and her mouth hung in shock. Because there sitting down on the floor with his back pressed against the bookshelf was Finn Hudson. Not just anyone, but Finn Hudson. The most popular kid in the seventh grade.

Rachel had felt like she'd done something wrong just by finding him there. She grew nervous as he looked up at her with fear in his own eyes. She couldn't help but look away. "Oh... I-I'm _so _sorry... I didn't mean- I mean... I wasn't aware that it was y-you, and-... Oh my god." The brunette felt herself panicking. She just knew a group of _cool _kids would corner her after school for pulling a stunt like this, even though it wasn't her fault. She didn't know that Finn Hudson of all people would be in the school library sitting on the floor... reading, or whatever it was that he was doing.

She bit her bottom lip and hurried back to the table where all of her things laid. "Rachel, wait." The boy pleaded, but she was too flustered to hear him. She quickly slammed all of her books shut, ignoring all of the papers that were flying everywhere, and stuffed them into her backpack. Her vision was becoming blurred due to the tears buiding up at such a rapid pace. She angrily swiped at her eyes. She really didn't need to cry right then.

The only thing that seemed to have calmed her was a gentle touch. It was so caring, like the person was afraid that if touched, Rachel would disappear. She let out a small gasp and turned to face the boy. She looked into his apologetic eyes and stepped out of his reach. "I'm sorry..." She whispered.

"Don't apologize... It's my fault really." He offered with a cute smile.

"W-what are you doing here?"

Rachel watched nervously as he shrugged his shoulders and looked away. He was here for a reason. Popular kids wouldn't waste their time in the library... Unless they wanted to mess with one of the _nobodies _that went there. That had to be it, why else would Finn Hudson be in the library?VHe wanted to mess with her, and that's just something she couldn't handle. The library was the only safe place for her, and now even that was tainted.

So before the boy could answer, Rachel quickly swung her backpack over her shoulders and hurridly left the library, leaving a confused Finn Hudson standing there alone with an outline of a boyish grin on his face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rachel had made it to the end of the school day without one person coming up to her in regards to the incident that had happened in the library. Maybe she was safe after all. She closed her locker and secured her pink lock. As soon as she turned to leave Finn Hudson appeared, seemingly out of nowhere... Or maybe she was just wishfully thinking.

"Hi Rachel." He had one hand stuffed in his jean pocket and the other one at his side holding a few papers.

The brunette looked around nervously. She knew what was coming next. He was going to do something to embarrass her. So she prepared herself, mentally and emotionally. "Finn." She said shortly. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

He smiled and Rachel just couldn't grasp why that look on his face looked so familiar to her. Where had she seen that look before? "You dropped your papers." He said as he handed over the brunette's missing notes. She eyed him for a second more before accepting her work. She looked down at the paper and confusion washed over her. They weren't destroyed.

"Thanks?"

"You're welcome." He smiled. She didn't get why Finn Hudson was popular, he was weird to the brunette. He always seemed to be smiling when there was no reason for him to be.

"Is that all?" The brunette questioned as she looked around at all the students passing by and giving the two weird glances. But no one stopped to question it.

"Uh... yea I guess." To say that Rachel was surprised would be an understatement. Had Finn Hudson, the most popular kid in seventh grade, just committed an act of kindness to Rachel Berry, the seventh grade nobody? Something was not right.

"Are you sure?" She questioned.

He looked nervous all of a sudden. Rachel had known that there was something else. "Well... um... I also want to say that I'm sorry... f-for earlier."

Now why would he go and say something like that? No one outside of her family had talked to her _this _softly or looked at her _this _caring since... since... Quinn, and even she hadn't done it since elementary school. Rachel was just too much of an emtional wreck for her age. The only thing she could think to do was to run. She didn't want Finn to see her cry. So that's what she did, she ran away from him, as fast as she could.

Once she made her way outside to where the buses were she slowed down to a brisk walk. She was on her way to her bus when a flash of long blonde hair caught her attention. There were three girls standing off to the side socializing about whatever probably. Rachel stared at them from a distance. She recognized all three of them, but only one caught her attention.

Quinn was smiling and talking animatedly about something while Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce listened with smiles on their faces. Rachel had fought the urge to cry a few moments ago, but this time it was proving to be a losing battle. Seeing Quinn always brought out the emotion in her. She kind of hated seeing the blonde smile now. It was like torture to her. She would see Quinn smiling and laughing with everybody now, everbody _else_ that is.

The blonde barely spared Rachel a glance any more, and to make matters worse was Quinn was spending all of her time with Brittany and Santana. The two girls that seemed to hate Rachel the most.

She sucked in a deep breath and continued on to her bus.

XXXXXXXXXXX

If Rachel would have known that Finn Hudson was going to make his little library visits an every day thing, she would have went to the bench that was placed on the side of the school a whole lot sooner. She'd put up with Finn's compliments, dopey smiles, and shy glances for a week straight, and she just could not take it anymore. He said he wanted to be her friend, and that's what really drove Rachel away from him.

She couldn't do that seeing as how her last friendship worked out. The young brunette couldn't understand how people could have so many friends, let alone even _want _them. Having a friend, or friends would only end up hurting you. Quinn had hurt her. She'd hurt her far more than any other kid in seventh grade, and she hadn't done things that were half as mean as the others... But she left. She left Rachel, and that hurt far worse than any of the name calling, and of the pranks or people laughing at her. So for that she did not want any friends, and she especially did not want the friendship of Finn Hudson.

The brunette sat quietly and nibbled on her celery sticks, not paying attention to the outside world. She was lost in her own little world, being swallowed by her own thoughts. Too caught up with being to herself, she missed yet another visitor approaching her with their hands behind their back.

Rachel pulled her legs up on the bench, now sitting indian style as her hair blew every which way. It wasn't until te blonde haired girl sat next to her with a single daisy in her hand that Rachel came back down from wherever she was. She threw a glance to her left where Quinn was sitting before focusing her attention back to the front of her. She had no words for the girl. But the unmistakable butterflies she felt upon her presence almost made her want to throw up. She thought she was way past her _little girl feelings_ for Quinn. Obviously not.

"Here, I got this for you." Rachel looked over to see the blonde holding out the daisy for her to take. Rachel wanted to be angry, because how dare she show up wearing Rachel's favorite color, and offering Rachel's favorite flower. She had no right to ignore the brunette and pretend that she didn't exist everyday only to show up randomly pretending that she cared, because she didn't. So there was no need to lead the young girl on.

Rachel eyed the flower sadly and shook her head. She didn't want it. She didn't want anything from Quinn, nothing at all. "No thank you." She said softly as she cradled the celery stick in her hands. It was the only thing keeping her grounded in that moment.

The blonde dropped her hand in defeat, immediately feeling her heart constrict. At first Quinn had been able to fix things with Rachel just by talking. She could promise the girl that she'd talk to her in public, she promised her she'd protect her from everyone else, she promised her a lot of things and that used to be okay. Rachel used to hang on to those promises and believe in the blonde. But Rachel was changing, words weren't working on the brunette anymore, and it's not that Quinn was lying on purpose. She'd made those promises with every intent to keep them, but she found herself stumbling every time it came to backing up those promises. She didn't want to be disowned by the student body. Approval from others meant something to the blonde... But Rachel meant something to the blonde... Why couldn't she just have both?

"But Rachel, this is your favorite flower... Don't you like it?" Quinn asked softly, not liking the feeling of rejection at all.

The brunette stared at the flower from the corner of her eye not being able to take in the sight of the blonde looking so broken while holding a flower up to her. It just didn't sit well with her feelings. "No, it's beautiful Quinn. And I-... thank you for picking it, but you should have left it alone."

Quinn let out a breath of air, her chest felt heavy. She was losing Rachel, and it seemed that there was nothing that she could do about it. She felt like Rachel was water slipping through her fingers. The water would all leak out eventually and the only thing she would be able to do was squeeze her fingers together a little tighter, just to prolong the water staying in her hands. But she'd look down one day and realize that all the water was gone, it was inevitable. "Does Finn Hudson know that daisies are your favorite flower?" She questioned softly.

Rachel was shocked. Had Quinn known that Finn wanted to be her friend as well? "I-I don-... No, no, why would he know something like that?"

She watched as the blonde shrugged her shoulders and twirled the daisy around in her hand. "Does he know that your favorite color is pink?" The blonde girl said rubbing the material on her dress. She'd worn this dress just for Rachel, and the brunette hadn't even noticed it. For a matter of fact the blonde had done a lot of things just to get Rachel to notice her and yet the brunette spent most days buried in a book or walking right past her without even a glance. But what should she have expected when she gave Rachel the same treatment?

"I doubt it..."

Quinn looked over to Rachel's wrist and noticed how naked it was. The charm bracelet that she'd gotten her a few Christmases ago wasn't there. She promised she'd never take it off. Yea, the water was leaving a little quicker than she thought. "Rachel, are you going to marry Finn Hudson?" The blonde popped her head up and stared at the girl as if she'd just reached her first epiphany.

Rachel was definitely taken aback by all of the questions Quinn was asking, but this one was just way off the walls. "Quinn what? What has gotten into you?"

"Answer the question."

Why did everything have to be all or nothing with the blonde. Just because Finn Hudson was all of a sudden borderline stalking her in the library didn't mean she wanted to marry him. Rachel didn't even like him. He was weird. "No, Quinn, I'm not going to marry Finn Hudson."

"Are you still going to marry me?" She asked as she stared into Rachel's eyes.

Rachel fumbled to find an answer because it wasn't no, but she wasn't sure if it was yes either. Had it been a couple of years ago and they were back in elementary school, when their lives where simple, she wouldn't have hesitated to say yes. But now Quinn was changing, Rachel was changing maybe the whole marraige thing had just been a part of their little girl feelings toward each other. Maybe Quinn didn't _have_ to marry Rachel after all.

"I hate you." The blonde said with a quiver in her voice. She threw the flower down and ran off before Rachel could object. The brunette had obviously taken too long to answer.

Quinn's words played over and over in the brunette's head. She heard them as she reached a shakey hand down to pick up the disgarded flower, she heard them as she went on autopilot for the rest of the school day and she heard those hurtful words as she cried herself to sleep that night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Rachel saw Quinn Fabray walking down the school hall hand in hand with Finn Hudson the very next day she wanted to do three things. One, she wanted to run into the bathroom and throw up, two she wanted to cry, and three she wanted to pull the two apart and slap Finn Hudson in the face. She'd never had such violent thoughts before, and it scared her a little at how angry and hurt she felt. And to make matters worse, Quinn Fabray made eye contact with her, in public, in front of people. They made eye contact, and she smiled. She smiled a triumphant smile... She'd done this on purpose. She'd hurt Rachel on purpose. And that was the game changer... That was the moment the whole dynamic of their relationship started to go downhill. The moment Quinn Fabray went out of her way to _purposely _hurt Rachel Berry.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Even though she'd been out of elementary school for a couple of years, she'd still find herself wandering back to the big tree next to the playground on the weekeds. Since she started up middle school she'd done a little research. She found out that her original safe haven was actually called a Willow Tree, or a Weeping Willow Tree. She didn't realize trees cried too when she was smaller. But now every time she came she would look sympathetically at the how the leaves and vines of the tree grew downward instead of up like all the other trees. It fascinated her to no end.

Some days she just go out and rest her back against the trunk of the tree and watch the leaves sway back and forth in the wind. She didn't close her eyes and enjoy the feeling or pretended to fly away because those were things she used to do with Quinn, and she just couldn't find the joy in doing things like that without the blonde beside her acting as her anchor, keeping her grounded.

So she reached her hand over into her stach of lollipop and picked out the watermelon flavor. She restocked that hole every weekend. But she was running low yet again. It didn't make sense to her. Most times she would only put lollipops in and rarely take them out, yet it seemed like there was always only a couple left. No one knew of this place, no one but Rachel and Quinn, and since Quinn probably hadn't been back to this tree since they left elementary school Rachel wasn't sure where her candy was going, but she never dwelled on it for too long.

She sat there for hours not knowing how long she'd actually been there, but she figured it was time to go when she saw different shades of orange and pink paint the sky. Her home wasn't too far away, a ten minute walk that ended to quickly. She greeted her fathers once she got into the house and ran up the stairs without saying anything else to them.

"What are you doing here?" She eyed the blonde girl sitting on the floor on the side of her bed. She had Rachel's charm bracelet in her hand. The one that she'd gotten for her. Rachel instinctively clasped her hand around the wrist she used to wear the bracelet on.

"Your dads let me in. They said you would be back any minute, but I waited up her for three hours." She said.

"You didn't have to wait for me."

"I know, but I wanted to see you..."

"Why?"

Quinn paused before she answered. "Why don't you wear this any more?" She said holding up the piece of jewlery. Rachel shrugged her shoulders. She didn't know, she just didn't. "I'm going to take it back."

"It's mine." Rachel panicked, she couldn't think of anything better to do than to run over to the blonde and try to pry her bracelet away from her. Quinn had one end and Rachel had the other. They both pulled with all their might until eventually the bracelet snapped under the tension. Rachel fell back landing on her butt with a thud and Quinn's back hit the side of Rachel's bed. The impact was anything serious both girls recovered fairly quickly. Rachel scrambled to pick up the pieces that had scattered everywhere.

"Rachel, I didn't mean to." Quinn tried to help in collecting all of the scattered pieces only to have her hand swatted away by the brunette. "Rachel, I'm sorry."

"You did this on purpose."

"I swear I didn't." The blonde wanted her to know, that this had been a horrible mistake. She hadn't meant to for this to happen... any of it. But it seemed like the blonde only knew how to make bigger messes out of the ones that already existed.

"Yea, you did... You did this on purpose. Just like you started dating Finn on purpose just to hurt me." Rachel pointed an accusing finger. She'd finally gathered all the pieces to her broken bracelet by now. "You're trying to hurt me... and I don't understand why." She said sadly. She just wanted to know why Quinn was being the way she was.

The blonde felt like someone had just thrown a bucket of cold water in her face. "I- you... me being with Finn Hudson is hurting you?" She asked stunned. She knew it, she knew. She'd grabbed Finn up to keep him away from the brunette. The only way she could ensure that he stayed away from what was hers is if she claimed him as her own. But she was hurting Rachel, did Rachel want Finn Hudson after all?

The brunette simply nodded her head in response.

"I-I'm sorry... I just... I just didn't want you to look at him how you used to look at me. Or smile at him like you used to smile at him. I guess I was just afraid that he would make you happy... more than I used to." She dropped her head. "And I didn't want that to happen... I swear that's the only reason I'm with him."

Rachel looked at her through remorseful eyes and shook her head. "You'd rather take the only thing that makes me happy away from me, just so that you won't have to go through the torture of seeing me happy with someone else?" The girl said lowly. She felt hurt and betrayed. There Quinn was, the girl who had promised to never hurt her, to always be there, she promised her everything, yet Rachel was slowly beginning to feel that maybe, just maybe the blonde's promises didn't mean anything at all.

"Rachel..." She practically whispered. "Finn is the only thing that makes you happy?" If the brunette said yes, that would be it. She'd let go, of everything. If Finn Hudson really was what Rachel wanted, then she'd let her be happy.

The brunette fought hard not to scream at Quinn. She wanted to yell at her and tell her how stupid she was. But she knew she'd never be able to do such things, at least not to the blonde girl beside her. So she dropped her gaze and lightly shook her head. A sad smile painted itself across her thin lips. "I wasn't talking about him. Don't you see that?" Finn Hudson was tall and weird. She'd never think otherwise. But Quinn couldn't see the real picture here. She couldn't and Rachel had just grown tired. She shuffled the pieces into one hand and reached her other hand out for Quinn to take.

The blonde reached up and grabbed her hand. There they stood in the middle of Rachel's bedroom floor. Rachel smiled sadly at the blonde and Quinn mirrored her. "You're the prettiest girl I've ever seen Quinn Fabray."

"And you're the prettiest girl I've ever seen Rachel Berry." That hurt to hear more than it should have.

"Do you remember when we were little girls and we used to meet under the tree during recess?" Rachel asked, and Quinn nodded. "Do you know what kind of tree that is Quinn?"

"It's a Weeping Willow Tree." She supplied simply. The blonde didn't know where Rachel was taking this conversation, but she decided in that moment that she didn't care.

Rachel gave a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and nodded. "Yea, that's correct. Bonus question..." She tried her best to lighten the mood before she said what she knew would hurt the blonde. "Why does the Willow tree weep?"

Quinn furrowed her eyebrows and gave herself a moment to think. But she just didn't know the answer to that one. "I don't know... Why did it weep?"

Rachel sucked in a deep breath and took Quinn's hand turning her palm right side up. She laid all the broken pieces from her bracelet in her hand. "Maybe you should take this back... It's broken just like you and me."

The blonde looked between Rachel and the contents in her hands in a slight panick. "But it's yours Rachel... things that are broken can be fixed. We can fix it."

Rachel shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid it can't be fixed if we're the ones that broke it." Neither one of them was sure of what exactly they were referring to, but they both had to know that it wasn't the bracelet they were talking about. The blonde opened her mouth to protest, but Rachel stopped her. The brunette pressed her lips against the blonde's before she could utter another word.

Their second kiss wasn't as akward as the first kiss they shared, but it sure was backed up by a lot more emotion this time. They didn't move, they both stood their with their faces pressed together feeling all sorts of feelings. When Rachel pulled away she was sure that was the hardest thing she'd ever done in her life. But when she looked into the blonde's eyes she changed her mind. Seeing Quinn look at her and being so torn and so hurt was the hardest thing she'd ever done... Or so she thought. "Good bye Quinn." She whispered... Now that was definitely the hardest thing she'd ever done.

**So most of this story will take place in the high school setting. I just wanted to give a little back story to show why Quinn and Rachel have such "ill" feelings towards each other in high school. It's like the untold story of little Faberry. :)**


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